GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR

ACTION TO ELIMINATE ALL

FORMS OF HIV-RELATED
STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION
Cover photo: UNICEF/Schermbrucker.
HIV-RELATED STIGMA AND
DISCRIMINATION: THE FACTS
>> Non-discrimination is a core human rights principle and obligation.
>> Stigma and discrimination is a major barrier to people taking up HIV
prevention, treatment, care and support services.
>> Women and girls experience multiple forms of discrimination.
>> Violence against women is one of the more extreme forms of
discrimination.
>> Stigma towards key populations—gay men and other men who have sex
with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs,
prisoners and other incarcerated people and migrants—is reinforced by
criminal laws and other structural barriers, which in turn fuel violence,
exploitation and a climate of fear that hinders efforts to make condoms,
harm reduction and other primary prevention methods available at
enough levels of coverage.
>> Restrictive laws and policies—including parental consent laws
and policies and adult-oriented HIV services that are perceived as
intimidating and of poor quality—discourage service uptake.

Health-care settings
>> In 19 countries with available data, a quarter of people living with HIV
report experiencing some form of discrimination in health care.
>> People living with HIV who perceive high levels of HIV-related stigma are
2.4 times more likely to delay enrolment in care until they are very ill.
>> Fear of HIV-related stigma owing to a potential HIV-positive status
disclosure is a deterrent to HIV testing among gay men and other men
who have sex with men and transgender women.
>> In 19 countries with available data, approximately one in three women
living with HIV report experiencing at least one form of discrimination
related to their sexual and reproductive health in health-care settings.

Education settings
>> Violence and discrimination in education settings have a potentially high
impact on school retention, self-image and self-stigma and in turn in
present and future vulnerability to HIV.
>> The proportion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students
experiencing school violence and bullying range from 16% to 85% and
the prevalence of violence is between three and five times higher among
LGBT students than among their non-LGBT peers.
>> Specific data on sexual violence in and around schools are limited.
Nevertheless, available figures suggest that sexual violence and abuse in
schools, perpetuated by staff and by other students, is a reality for many
students, particularly girls.

1
 Workplace settings
>> A large proportion of people living with HIV are unemployed and young
people living with HIV have a much higher unemployment rate than adults.
>> People living with HIV have reported losing their job or source of income as
a result of their HIV status alone.

Justice system
>> Eighty-eight countries report having laws criminalizing nondisclosure, expo-
sure and transmission of HIV or prosecutions based on general criminal laws.
>> Sixty-nine countries report they have laws that specifically criminalize same-
sex sexual activity.
>> Ninety-eight countries report that they criminalize some aspect of sex work.
>> One hundred countries report that drug use or possession of drugs for
personal use is a criminal offence or grounds for compulsory detention.
>> Nine out of 107 reporting countries report that they impose the death
penalty for drug-related offences.
>> Four countries have reported that they continue to criminalize mother-to-
child transmission of HIV, where women can be prosecuted for transmitting
HIV to their fetus.

Household settings (individual, family, community)

>> Gender inequality and harmful gender norms perpetuate stigma and
discrimination and impede the ability of women and girls to prevent HIV
and mitigate its impact.
>> Women living with HIV who experience intimate partner violence are
significantly less likely to start or adhere to antiretroviral therapy, and they
have worse clinical outcomes than other women living with HIV.
>> Violence or the fear of violence can make it very difficult for women to insist
on safer sex and to use and benefit from HIV and sexual and reproductive
health services.

Emergency and humanitarian settings

>> In 2015, a study tracking HIV incidence in 36 sub-Saharan countries over
22 years found that the spread of HIV was fastest in the five-year period
before the break out of hostilities.
>> A 2013 study reconfirmed that displaced people, including refugees, do not
have a higher HIV prevalence than host communities.
>> Seven out of 10 women are exposed to gender-based violence in crisis
situations.
>> People who have experienced gender-based violence are at a higher risk
of infection, as violent men are more likely to be living with HIV, to impose
risky sexual practices on their partners and have multiple partners.
>> Food insecurity during emergencies makes it harder to adhere to treatment.
It can also result in behaviour, such as transactional sex, that puts individuals
at higher risk of HIV.

2
 Without addressing HIV-related
stigma and discrimination, the
world will not achieve the goal of
ending AIDS as a public health
threat by 2030.

3
 HIV-RELATED STIGMA AND
DISCRIMINATION: WHAT IS IT?
Irrational fears of HIV infection and negative attitudes and judgments
towards people living with HIV persist despite decades of public information
campaigns and other awareness-raising efforts.

HIV-related stigma is irrational or fear-driven negative attitudes, behaviours

and judgments towards people living with HIV, their partners and families
and key populations—gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex
workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, prisoners and other
incarcerated people and migrants.

HIV-related discrimination is unfair and unjust treatment against a

person or group of people based on their real or perceived HIV status.
Discrimination in the context of HIV also includes the unfair treatment of key
populations, women and girls and other groups at higher risk of acquiring
HIV. Discrimination can become rooted institutionally in laws, policies and
practices that negatively focus on people living with HIV and marginalized
groups, including criminalized populations. It can be compounded with
other forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on race, sex,
socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, age, gender, identity or national
origin.

Breaking down HIV stigma is critically important. HIV-related stigma

prevents people from seeking HIV services, including HIV prevention,
testing and treatment. Eliminating HIV-related stigma and discrimination
from health-care settings, towards key populations, women and girls and
people living with and affected by HIV will help to break down the barriers
to accessing HIV services.

Some forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the focus settings

are the following:

Health-care settings: health-care providers unwilling to provide care for

people living with HIV or providing them with a poorer quality of care
compared with other people, non-consensual disclosure of sensitive health
information, discriminatory practices such as coerced or forced sterilization
and parental consent requirements that hinder adolescent access to needed
sexual and reproductive health services.

Workplace settings: obstructing entry to the labour market, changing the

type of work individuals can perform, preventing promotion to more senior
positions, triggering people being fired from their jobs, impeding access to
adult education and training and violence against women and girls in the
workplace.

Educational settings: isolation in sitting arrangements and rejection during

play activities, name-calling and labelling, which leads to low self-esteem,
physical abuse through beating and over-punishment, which negatively

4
impairs participation in learning activities. Children and young people living
with HIV may eventually drop out of school or continuously perform poorly
and gain nothing out of the years they spend in school.

Justice system: in some countries same-sex activity is considered a

criminal offence, criminalization of sex work and drug use creates climates
in which civilian and police violence is rife and legal redress for victims
impossible, possession of condoms is treated as evidence of sex work and
the possession of syringes is treated as evidence of drug use. Incarceration
and compulsory detention expose detainees to sexual assault and unsafe
injection practices. Laws that discriminate against women living with,
presumed to be living with, at risk of, and affected by HIV, include laws
related to HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission, travel restrictions,
mandatory testing (including of pregnant women), parental consent laws.

Household: community or family exclusion from the family, community

and in places of worship, social judgment of household and community
members that results in internalized stigma and self-isolation.

Emergency settings: unfair treatment and non-prioritization towards key

populations and people living with HIV. Women from key populations and
women living with HIV are especially prone to sexual and gender-based
violence and abuse in emergency contexts.

5
 All these forms of stigma and
discrimination result in people
living with or affected by HIV being
denied their rights.
And all must be stopped.

6
THE COMMITMENT
Countries have committed to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Eliminating stigma and
discrimination in all its forms is fundamental to achieving the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development’s promise of leaving no one behind and
reaching the Sustainable Development Goals and targets by 2030. 

In 2018, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) celebrates its

70th anniversary. It set, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be
universally protected.

The UDHR has also spawned many other important international treaties,
including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women and the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, the UDHR continues to inspire new
treaties. One of the most recent, the Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, is also one of the most rapidly ratified.

The landmark 2012 report of the Global Commission on HIV and the

Law urged governments to promote laws and policies that are grounded in
evidence and human rights.

The 2016 United Nations Political Declaration on Ending AIDS recognizes

the HIV epidemic as a human rights challenge. It expresses grave concern
that discrimination continues to be reported and that restrictive legal
and policy frameworks continue to discourage and prevent people from
accessing HIV services. Member States committed to:
>> Promote non-discriminatory access to health care, employment,
education and social services.
>> Eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination by 2020.
>> Eliminate gender inequalities and end all forms of violence and
discrimination against women and girls.
>> Review and reform laws that reinforce stigma and discrimination,
including on age of consent, HIV non-disclosure, exposure and
transmission, travel restrictions and mandatory testing.
>> Empower people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV to know their
rights and access justice and legal services.

7
 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR
ACTION TO ELIMINATE ALL
FORMS OF HIV-RELATED
STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION
The global partnership’s goal is to reach zero HIV-related stigma and
discrimination.

An opportunity to harness the combined power of governments, civil

society and the United Nations, the global partnership will work together,
using the unique skills of each constituency, to consign HIV-related stigma
and discrimination to history.

Established after a public call for action at the 41st meeting of the UNAIDS
Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) by the PCB NGO delegation, the
global partnership is co-convened by UNAIDS, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Network
of People Living with HIV (GNP+).

What is its status?

During 2018, global and country consultations with networks and
communities of people living with HIV, key populations and women’s groups
have been and are still being conducted by GNP+ and the PCB NGO
delegation. Communities have recommended settings and populations of
initial focus and programmatic priorities for addressing HIV-related stigma
and discrimination.

The United Nations co-conveners are working with United Nations agencies
and aligning efforts with implementing partners that are supporting
countries addressing policy and programme barriers to HIV services,
including HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

United Nations agencies and civil society organizations will constitute

working groups to develop guidelines for countries that will include
packages of effective programmes for eliminating HIV-related discrimination
for specific settings. They will be providing technical expertise to country
partners to implement their road maps for country action.

The above recommendations resulting from consultations led by GNP+ and

the PCB NGO delegation are feeding into the work of the co-conveners
working group for establishing the global partnership.

Who are invited to join?

The commitment to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination is universal.

All countries and partners committed to the HIV response and human rights
principles are encouraged to join the global partnership and use their
collective strength to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

8
 There are enough human rights
treaties and legally-binding
obligations to eliminate HIV-related
stigma and discrimination.
It is now time for action.

9
 Countries planning and/or implementing initiatives addressing stigma and
discrimination in at least three of the initial focused settings financed by
domestic, bilateral or multilateral donors will be invited to join the global
partnership early, in order to share their best practices and lessons learned.

Why should countries join?

Under international human rights law, states that have ratified international
human rights treaties have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human
rights. This includes taking proactive measures in all areas of human rights,
including non-discrimination and sexual and reproductive health rights in
health-care settings and the workplace and gender equality and women’s
empowerment.

States have an immediate legal obligation to address discrimination, even

if there are severe resource constraints. Vulnerable members of society
must be protected, and many measures, such as most strategies and
programmes designed to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination,
can be pursued with minimum resource implications. This might involve the
adoption, modification or abrogation of legislation, or the dissemination of
information.

The global partnership will provide expertise and know-how to help

countries establish or expand programmes and policies that have been
shown to work in order to meet their legally-binding commitments to
eliminate all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

What will the global partnership do?

Building on all commitments, the global partnership will support countries
to translate those pledges into policy changes and programmes that result
in the enjoyment of HIV-related rights by everybody.

The global partnership has three objectives:

>> Support fulfilment of commitments. It will put into action the human
rights obligations of Member States to end stigma and discrimination
already made at the global, regional and national levels towards the
elimination of HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
>> Build meaningful partnerships. It will establish, strengthen and
revitalize partnerships among stakeholders to implement and scale up
programmes towards ending HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
>> Share responsibility for measurement and accountability. It will collect
and disseminate data to inform policy and programming, measure
progress and support accountability towards the elimination of HIV-
related stigma and discrimination.
The global partnership, supported by the co-conveners working group,
will implement the following series of interrelated strategies to achieve the
proposed objectives:

>> Convene and link United Nations agencies, Member States and other
stakeholders to catalyse leadership, ownership and increased action in

10
 advancing legal and policy frameworks that address HIV-related stigma
and discrimination, sharing of best practices, knowledge and promotion
of innovative strategies and the implementation of HIV-related non-
discrimination programmes, at the international, regional and local
levels.
>> Identify and support opportunities for the scale-up of programmes
proved to address stigma and discrimination, prioritizing community and
United Nations engagement.
>> Optimize and mobilize resources in support of the implementation
of HIV-related non-discriminatory evidence-informed programmes,
identifying synergies with existing funding mechanisms and
opportunities.
>> Strengthen the target-setting, monitoring and reporting mechanisms
that will inform the implementation status of HIV non-discriminatory
policies and programmes, including reporting by gender, HIV status or
key population, the type of discrimination experienced and how the case
is resolved.
>> Advance community leadership in efforts to advance laws, policies and
programmes, including their participation in monitoring and reporting
progress and in other accountability mechanisms.

Since countries joining the global partnership will have different needs,
contexts and stages of progress, country actions will be tailored to the
local context. However, all countries will seek to implement a core set of
recommended packages of programmes and policies for each setting.

The global partnership, supported by the co-conveners working group, will

establish working groups that will be co-led by a United Nations agency
and a civil society organization with expertise in implementing human rights
programmes to address barriers to HIV services, including HIV-related
stigma and discrimination in priority settings. These working groups will
collect best practices and develop implementing guidance for countries.

How can countries and partners join?

To join the global partnership, governments, civil society organizations other
partners will agree to:
>> Partner with various stakeholders, including civil society organizations,
United Nations entities, key populations, the private sector, academia
and other partners to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
>> Implement evidence-informed policies and programmes to eliminate
HIV-related stigma and discrimination in a minimum of three of the
settings of initial focus through initiatives that are measurable and can be
brought to scale.
>> Allocate resources to finance the implementation, monitoring and
reporting of activities to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination
in the settings.
>> Monitor and report on the concrete steps taken to address HIV-related
stigma and discrimination in the settings.

11
 Who will benefit?
The global partnership will have, initially, a special focus on the people who
are being left behind in the global response to HIV. These include people
living with HIV, women and girls, particularly adolescent girls and young
women, and key populations—gay men and other men who have sex with
men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, prisoners
and other incarcerated people and migrants.

What will countries and partners do?

UNAIDS recommends that programmes addressing stigma and
discrimination be included in national strategic plans for HIV and
incorporated as essential activities in operational plans. The programmes
should be costed with allocated budgets and there should be indicators for
monitoring progress.  

Each government will work with the support of technical partners on the
implementation of a national road map for action that will include the
following activities:
>> Establish a national multistakeholder core group on HIV-related stigma
and discrimination whose key mandate will include tracking HIV-related
stigma and discrimination, particularly in six settings, and support
monitoring of governments and other stakeholders. Where groups with
similar or overlapping objectives exist, governments will work to include
the above functions as part of their work.
>> Undertake or build on existing policy, programme and legal assessments
about HIV-related stigma and discrimination in the six settings, based
on indicators agreed by the co-conveners and the UNAIDS strategic
information stigma and discrimination working group.
>> Develop a costed road map for national action to address HIV-related
stigma and discrimination in the six settings through a wide consultative
process. Road maps for national action must comprise activities and
initiatives that respond to the indicators in the assessment methodology
tool, including legal environment assessments.
>> Where national processes are under way, or similar action plans have
been developed, governments will work with national stakeholders to
complement any gaps in existing plans to avoid duplication.
>> Utilize suggested stigma and discrimination indicators, including those
contained in the Global AIDS Monitoring Guidelines, to monitor progress
and produce an annual report based on progress in implementing the
road maps for national action addressing stigma and discrimination in
the settings.

It is expected that governments and partners will build on existent national

frameworks and efforts on addressing legal and human rights barriers to HIV
services and all forms of HIV-related stigma and discrimination being funded
by domestic, bilateral or multilateral resources.

12
 Countries will create an
environment in which there
is an urgency to reach
zero discrimination.

Initial focus
Based on the recommendations provided by civil society organizations,
global networks of people living with HIV and key populations during
extensive consultations with GNP+, the group of co-conveners of the global
partnership propose that road maps for national action could focus initially,
but will not be limited to, the following settings:
>> Health-care settings.
>> Workplace settings.
>> Educational settings.
>> Justice settings.
>> Household settings: individuals, families and communities.
>> Emergency and humanitarian settings.

Populations
Programmes to eliminate HIV-related stigma and discrimination will focus
on the people being left behind, including, but not limited to, people living
with HIV, key populations (gay men and other men who have sex with men,
sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, prisoners and
other incarcerated people and migrants) and women and girls, particulary
adolescent girls and young women.

Initiatives addressing stigma and discrimination faced by these populations

will assess their interaction with critical cost-cutting dimensions, such
as harmful gender, social and cultural norms, sexual and gender-based
violence, the legal and policy environment, the impact of gender, social
and economic inequalities, the existence of social protection policies,
communication and the media, internalized and experienced stigma and
intersectional stigma and discrimination.

13
UNAIDS
Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS

20 Avenue Appia
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

+41 22 791 3666

unaids.org